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Issues with Live Folder shortcuts and icon scaling
- Issues with Live Folder shortcuts and icon scaling
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Issues with Live Folder shortcuts and icon scaling
reg > 2026-03-16 00:58
The QAP version - 12.2.1
installed - Portable
Windows version - Windows 7 64bit
Hello,
I have encountered two issues while using Quick Access Popup (QAP):
1. Live Folder behavior with folder shortcuts
I have an Live Folder that contains various program shortcuts, including some shortcuts that point to other folders. Ideally, clicking such a shortcut should simply open that folder.
However, in Live Folder mode, QAP treats these shortcuts as subfolders themselves and attempts to load all their nested files and folders into the menu. Is there a way to change this behavior so that QAP treats a folder shortcut as a simple link rather than a source for a sub-menu?
2. Icon scaling in menus
I prefer using an icon size of 24, but most icons look distorted at this setting. My testing shows that icons only look crisp at size 32. At any other size (even larger ones like 64), they appear to be low-quality resizes of the 32px version.
Interestingly, some rare programs and QAP’s internal icons looks perfectly at any size. I have verified that the executable files (e.g., AIMP.exe) definitely contain icons in multiple resolutions, yet QAP still displays a distorted version.
I have attached screenshots of AIMP as an example, showing the available icon formats versus how they appear in the QAP menu. -
RE: Issues with Live Folder shortcuts and icon scaling
reg > 2026-03-16 10:53
I also checked it on another PC (With Windows 10) . The resolution issue with the Live Folder shortcut icons isn't present there. However, there's a slightly different problem: I have a Live Folder with subfolders containing shortcuts inside. If these subfolders have custom icons assigned, they also look low-quality and blurry. But if I add such a folder directly to the menu, its icon looks sharp and clear.
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RE: Issues with Live Folder shortcuts and icon scaling
Jean Lalonde > 2026-03-17 11:01
Hi Reg and welcome to the QAP forum.
> Is there a way to change this behavior so that QAP treats a folder shortcut as a simple link rather than a source for a sub-menu?
No, not in the current version. But if you click the first item of the Live folder submenu, this will open the folder itself. Also, try changing the Live menu number of sublevels.
> 2. Icon scaling in menus
Sorry, but I can't tell. QAP creates its menus using standard Windows commands. I guess Windows would use the best icon size but I can't tell why it would not. Maybe someone on this forum with more in-depth knowledge of Windows menus could help? -
RE: Issues with Live Folder shortcuts and icon scaling
reg > 2026-03-17 12:20
> But if you click the first item of the Live folder submenu, this will open the folder itself.
Yes, but the problem isn't getting to the folder. The issue is that the folder is scanned along with its contents (since I use those specific settings), so a folder that I only need as a shortcut ends up expanding with everything inside—and there can be a lot of files. It also slows down the loading, indexing, and search time in "quick launch".
> Also, try changing the Live menu number of sublevels.
In my case, that would be a workaround that severely limits functionality. I’ve actually used a different "crutch": I have written in the startup path for folder shortcuts, launching my file manager with the folder as a parameter, and it works well. However, I have to manually adjust those shortcuts first. It would be much more convenient if there were a setting to prevent a folder shortcut from being treated as a "live" folder instead of just a link to open it.
>Sorry, but I can't tell. QAP creates its menus using standard Windows commands
OK.
Just to be safe, let me clarify one point more precisely. I wasn't detailed enough regarding folders with custom icons (on Windows 10):
1. The folder icon is blurry only when it's set from a standalone ICO file. If a system icon is used, everything looks fine.
2. Even when I add such a folder to the menu manually, the icon starts off blurry. But if I go into the icon settings, click Browse, and re-select the same external icon already assigned to the folder, it becomes sharp (see attached screenshots).
I might experiment more with the external icon files. Although my ICO files include all standard resolutions (16, 24, 32), perhaps something else is required or a different format is needed. -
RE: Issues with Live Folder shortcuts and icon scaling
Jean Lalonde > 2026-03-17 14:37
> a setting to prevent a folder shortcut from being treated as a "live" folder instead of just a link to open it.
Added to the wish list:
https://forum.quickaccesspopup.com/showt...p?tid=3164
> 1. The folder icon is blurry only when it's set from a standalone ICO file. If a system icon is used, everything looks fine.
> 2. Even when I add such a folder to the menu manually, the icon starts off blurry. But if I go into the icon settings, click Browse, and re-select the same external icon already assigned to the folder, it becomes sharp (see attached screenshots).
Hum, the only difference I see between the two screen captures is the space before the comma in the first screen capture. If you add this space manually, is the icon blurry? -
RE: Issues with Live Folder shortcuts and icon scaling
reg > 2026-03-18 11:12
> Hum, the only difference I see between the two screen captures is the space before the comma in the first screen capture. If you add this space manually, is the icon blurry?
This field is non-editable. It automatically shows where the icon is loaded from. And as I’ve already found out, it doesn’t affect the icon itself; it just displays differently depending on whether the icon is linked via Windows tools or within QAP.
Meanwhile, based on my test results (on Windows 10), here’s what happened: I reassigned the exact same icons to the folders again (in Windows Explorer, not in QAP), and now the problem is gone. Whether it’s a 'Live Folder' or a direct folder addition, all icons are now sharp. I still don't understand how it happened, and I haven't been able to reproduce the issue yet. I’m not sure what caused it—maybe moving the folders with shortcuts caused a glitch, or something else, it's unclear.
So, as of now, I am not seeing any icon issues on Windows 10.
However, there are definitely problems on Windows 7. There, the issues affect not only folders but regular shortcuts as well. I’ll experiment more once I get to a computer with Win7. -
RE: Issues with Live Folder shortcuts and icon scaling
Jean Lalonde > 2026-03-18 14:18
Thank you for the follow-up.
FYI, Win 7 now represents less than 1% of QAP users :-)
![[Image: Hlk94lX.png]](https://i.imgur.com/Hlk94lX.png)